title: p38β, A novel regulatory target of Pokemon in hepatic cells.
abstract: Pokemon is an important proto-oncogene involved in various biological processes and cancer development, such as cell differentiation, tumorigenesis and metastasis. Pokemon is recognized as a transcription factor localized upstream of several oncogenes, regulating their expression. p38MAPKs act as key regulatory factors in cellular signaling pathways associated with inflammatory responses, cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. p38β, a member of p38MAPK family, is closely correlated with tumorigenesis, but the mechanism of activation remains unclear. In this study, we found overexpression of Pokemon promoted the growth, migration and invasion of HepG2 cells. However, a p38 inhibitor SB202190 efficiently attenuated the promoting effect of Pokemon in the HepG2 cells. Targeted expression or silencing of Pokemon changed cellular p38β protein level and phosphorylation of downstream ATF2 in the p38 signaling pathway. Both dual luciferase report assay and ChIP assay suggested that p38β is a novel regulatory target of the transcription factor Pokemon and positively regulated by Pokemon in hepatic cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. liu.feng@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Nannan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Deliang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Yuyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D051698:Activating Transcription Factor 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D048290:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 11 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C497105:ATF2 protein, human; D051698:Activating Transcription Factor 2; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D007093:Imidazoles; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011725:Pyridines; D014157:Transcription Factors; C485514:ZBTB7A protein, human; D048290:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 11; C090942:4-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-(4-pyridyl)imidazole